This sweet, soft, and bouncy mango jelly is super easy to make and so fun to eat! In this recipe, I will show you how to make your own homemade mango jelly from scratch using wholesome ingredients like fresh mangoes, fruit juice, and agar agar.
Making Fresh Fruit Jelly
Isn’t this mango jelly so adorable? Fresh fruit jelly is such a wonderful and wholesome treat. It’s fun to look at, fun to make, and fun to eat! Especially now that everyone is staying at home, this would be the perfect activity to do with your children. After all, what better way to get your kids to eat healthy food than getting them involved?
Unlike store-bought fruit jelly, this mango jelly is a lot healthier since it’s made with fresh and wholesome ingredients – which I also think makes it taste much better by comparison. Great food starts with great ingredients! Don’t you agree?
When it comes to sweetening up the jelly, picking the right produce can go a long way. For this recipe, I used very sweet and ripe mangoes. The natural sugars of the fresh fruit contribute a lot to the flavor of the dessert! But if your mangoes aren’t super ripe or sweet, you can add a little extra sugar until the taste is to your liking.
Agar Agar as a Gelatin Substitute
This recipe is also a great dessert option for those who are eating plant-based since it’s made using agar agar – a vegan gelatin substitute. Agar Agar works just like regular gelatin but is made with seaweed rather than animal products.
Agar agar is a little difficult to source locally in my area, so I usually purchase it online. But if you have gelatin on hand, that would work really well too.
Compared to gelatin, agar agar sets a little more firmly – which makes it perfect for holding the shape of cute molds. It’s also more powerful than gelatin. So if you’re planning to substitute the agar agar powder with gelatin, you may want to add a few more teaspoons.
If you are using agar agar, I recommend dissolving it into the water with the help of a whisk before you turn on the heat. The powder tends to clump easily when the water heats up, so starting it in cold or room temperature water would work best.
How to Serve Mango Jelly
There are a variety of ways you can serve this mango jelly. In Thailand, you can usually find mango jelly layered with coconut jelly as a dessert called woon mamuang (วุ้นมะม่วง). While in the Philippines, it’s served in coconut cream with sago – small pearls similar to boba, but made from palm instead of cassava.
At home, we like to enjoy this mango jelly on its own. It’s so delicious and fun to eat, the whole thing is usually gone in seconds!
Feel free to experiment with this sweet treat and find your favorite way to serve it.
Vegan Mango Jelly Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz. Mango Purée
- 1/2 cup Star Fruit Juice
- 2 tbsp Agar-Agar
- 1 piece Lime Juice
- 1 1/4 cup Water
- 1/4 cup Sugar
Instructions
- Add water to pot – room temperature if possible
- Add Agar Agar powder
- Whisk Agar-Agar with water and try to dissolve as much as possible BEFORE turning stove on.
- Add Starfruit juice/Orange juice
- Add Lime juice
- Whisk it again
- Bring it to a boil
- Add Mango Purée
- Boil it for 1-2 minutes on medium heat
- Pour Mango Jelly into a silicon form
- Put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes